Blood coagulation is a process consisting of a complex interaction of various blood components (or factors) that eventually results in a fibrin clot. Generally, the blood components participating in what has been referred to as the “coagulation cascade” are proenzymes or zymogens, i.e. enzymatically inactive proteins that are converted into an active form by the action of an activator. One of these coagulation factors is FVII.
FVII is a vitamin K-dependent plasma protein synthesized in the liver and secreted into the blood as a single-chain glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 53 kDa (Broze & Majerus, J. Biol. Chem. 1980; 255:1242-1247). The FVII zymogen is converted into an activated form (FVIIa) by proteolytic cleavage at a single site, R152-I153, resulting in two chains linked by a single disulfide bridge. FVIIa in complex with tissue factor (FVIIa complex) is able to convert both factor IX (FIX) and factor X (FX) into their activated forms, followed by reactions leading to rapid thrombin production and fibrin formation (Østerud & Rapaport, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1977; 74:5260-5264).
FVII undergoes post-translational modifications, including vitamin K-dependent carboxylation resulting in ten γ-carboxyglutamic acid residues in the N-terminal region of the molecule. Thus, residues number 6, 7, 14, 16, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29 and 35 shown in SEQ ID NO:1 are γ-carboxyglutamic acid residues in the Gla domain important for FVII activity. Other post-translational modifications include sugar moiety attachment at two naturally occurring N-glycosylation sites at position 145 and 322, respectively, and at two naturally occurring O-glycosylation sites at position 52 and 60, respectively.
The gene coding for human FVII (hFVII) has been mapped to chromosome 13 at q34-qter 9 (de Grouchy et al., Hum Genet 1984; 66:230-233). It contains nine exons and spans 12.8 Kb (O'Hara et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1987; 84:5158-5162). The gene organisation and protein structure of FVII are similar to those of other vitamin K-dependent procoagulant proteins, with exons 1a and 1b encoding for signal sequence; exon 2 the propeptide and Gla domain; exon 3 a short hydrophobic region; exons 4 and 5 the epidermal growth factor-like domains; and exon 6 through 8 the serine protease catalytic domain (Yoshitake et al., Biochemistry 1985; 24: 3736-3750).
Reports exist on experimental three-dimensional structures of hFVIIa (Pike et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1999; 96:8925-30 and Kemball-Cook et al., J. Struct. Biol., 1999; 127:213-223); of hFVIIa in complex with soluble tissue factor using X-ray crystallographic methods (Banner et al., Nature, 1996; 380:41 and Zhang et al., J. Mol. Biol., 1999; 285: 2089); and of smaller fragments of hFVII (Muranyi et al., Biochemistry, 1998; 37:10605 and Kao et al., Biochemistry, 1999; 38:7097).
Relatively few protein-engineered variants of FVII have been reported (Dickinson & Ruf, J Biol Chem, 1997;272:19875-19879; Kemball-Cook et al., J Biol Chem, 1998; 273:8516-8521; Bharadwaj et al., J Biol Chem, 1996; 271:30685-30691; Ruf et al., Biochemistry, 1999; 38:1957-1966).
Reports exist on expression of FVII in BHK or other mammalian cells (WO 92/15686, WO 91/11514 and WO 88/10295) and co-expression of FVII and kex2 endoprotease in eukaryotic cells (WO 00/28065).
Commercial preparations of recombinant human FVIIa (rhFVIIa) are sold under the trademark NovoSeven®. NovoSeven® is indicated for the treatment of bleeding episodes in hemophilia A or B patients. NovoSeven® is the only rhFVIIa for effective and reliable treatment of bleeding episodes currently available on the market.
Mayer (Stroke, 2003, 34:224-229) speculated that ultra-early hemostatic treatment of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), given within 3-4 hours of onset, may arrest bleeding and minimize hematoma growth after ICH. On Jun. 22, 2004, it was reported in a stock exchange announcement by Novo Nordisk (Denmark) that NovoSeven® was found to provide a significantly improved neurological and functional outcome in the treatment of ICH. However, it was also reported that the treatment was associated with a non-significant increase in thromboembolic events.
An inactive form of FVII in which arginine 152 and/or isoleucine 153 are modified has been reported in WO 91/11514. These amino acids are located at the activation site. WO 96/12800 describes inactivation of FVIIa by a serine proteinase inhibitor. Inactivation by carbamylation of FVIIa at the α-amino acid group I153 has been described by Petersen et al., Eur J Biochem, 1999;261:124-129. The inactivated form is capable of competing with wild-type FVII or FVIIa for binding to tissue factor and inhibiting clotting activity. The inactivated form of FVIIa is suggested to be used for treatment of patients suffering from hypercoagulable states, such as patients with sepsis or at risk of myocardial infarction or thrombotic stroke.
In connection with treatment of uncontrolled bleedings such as trauma it is believed that FVIIa is capable of activating FX to FXa without binding to tissue factor, and this activation reaction is believed to occur primarily on activated blood platelets (Hedner et al. Blood Coagitlation & Fibrinolysis, 2000;11;107-111). However, hFVIIa or rhFVIIa has a low activity towards FX in the absence of tissue factor and, consequently, treatment of uncontrolled bleeding, for example in trauma patients, requires relatively high and multiple doses of hFVIIa or rhFVIIa. Therefore, in order to treat uncontrolled bleedings more efficiently (to minimize blood loss) there is need for improved FVIIa molecules which possess a high activity toward FX in the absence of tissue factor. Such improved FVIIa molecules should exhibit a lowered clotting time (faster action/increased clotting activity) as compared to rhFVIIa when administered in connection with uncontrolled bleedings.
Gla domain variants of FVII/FVIIa have been disclosed in WO 99/20767, U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,882 and WO 00/66753, where some residues located in the Gla domain were identified as being important for phospholipid membrane binding and hence FX activation. In particular, it was found that the residues 10 and 32 were critical and that increased phospholipid membrane binding affinity, and hence increased FX activation, could be achieved by performing the mutations P10Q and K32E. In particular, it was found that FX activation was enhanced as compared to rhFVIIa at marginal coagulation conditions, such as under conditions where a low level of tissue factor is present.
WO 01/58935 discloses a new strategy for developing FVII or FVIIa molecules having inter alia an increased half-life by means of directed glycosylation or PEGylation.
WO 03/093465 discloses FVII or FVIIa variants having certain modifications in the Gla domain and having one or more N-glycosylation sites introduced outside the Gla domain.
WO 2004/029091 discloses FVII or FVIIa variants having certain modifications in the tissue factor binding site.
The present inventors have now identified further residues in the Gla domain which further increase the phospholipid membrane binding affinity and hence further increase FX activation. The FVII or FVIIa variants of the invention may also exhibit reduced tissue factor binding affinity.
The object of the present invention is to provide improved FVII or FVIIa molecules (FVII or FVIIa variants) which are capable of activating FX to FXa more efficiently than hFVIIa, rhFVIIa or [P10Q+K32E]rhFVIIa. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved FVII or FVIIa molecules (FVII or FVIIa variants) which are capable of activating FX to FXa more efficiently than hFVIIa, rhFVIIa or [P10Q+K32E]rhFVIIa in the absence of tissue factor. These objects are addressed by the FVII or FVIIa variants provided herein.